Shifters Rule (Rule Series) (20 page)

His time was running out.

Silver said, “You’re scaring me.
 
What is it?
 
What’s wrong?”

Before Trina could answer, Jack used vampire-speed to get down the stairs and out of the house.
 
In a split second he was standing between the two girls, having knocked Trina’s hands off Silver.
 
Silver forgot about Trina’s important information in light of Jack’s appearance.
 
It was the first time Jack had left his room since becoming ill.

“What are you doing out of bed?”
 
Silver glared at him.
 
“You shouldn’t be running that fast yet.”

“Sorry.
 
I heard voices.
 
What’s going on?”

He stared directly into Trina’s eyes, daring her to finish what she was going to say to Silver.
 
She smiled at him.
 
Her eyes were wide open with feigned innocence as if she didn’t know what he wanted from her, her silence.
 
A new blanket of tension settled on them.
 
Silver noticed it almost immediately.
 
Her eyes swung from one to the other and back again.
 

She changed the subject.

Turning to Trina, she asked, “Are you still seeing Cow… Derek?”

“No.
 
He dumped me a few days ago.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Are you?”
 
Trina crossed her arms over her chest.
 
“Really?
 
You’re sorry I’m not going to become a vampire?
 
Seriously?”

“Fine.
 
I’m glad the two of you aren’t seeing each other anymore.
 
He’s bad news.
 
The guy torched my house, remember?
 
Anyway, you’ll find someone else, someone better.”

A big smile transformed Trina’s face.
 
“I already have.”

Silver blinked.
 
“Wow.
 
That was fast.”

Trina went on to explain how she’d been devastated by Derek’s unfair treatment of her.
 
Although she had been secretly happy not to have to drink blood or travel by night, she felt like she’d lost the only guy who would ever understand or care about her.
 
In tears, she had darted into the street and almost got hit by a car.
 
A boy she recognized from school saved her life.

“We have so much in common,” she gushed.
 
Her eyes sparkled with pure joy.
 
“It was ultra intense, I mean the most incredible thing that’s ever happened to me.
 
I wish you’d been there.
 
It was like the most romantic movie ever.
 
But it was real.
 
It totally happened to me.
 
And the best thing is I don’t have to sneak around with him.
 
His name is Joey.
 
You can meet him whenever you want.”

Silver smiled, and Jack relaxed.
 
Neither of the girls remembered their conversation about him and the ring.
 
He was off the hook.
 
Silver would never have to know he’d had doubts.
 
Feeling drained, Jack told them he was going back to bed.
 
Silver thought she should help him up the stairs.
 
Refusing the offer, he told her to spend time with her friend.
 
He would be fine.

Satisfied the girls wouldn’t revisit the hot topic of engagement news, Jack returned to his room, smile firmly in place.
 
Something had finally turned out right for him.
 
He hoped it was the start of a new trend.

.

*****

.

A couple of hours later Trina finished with Silver and headed for her car.
 
There was something Jack needed to talk to her about.
 
He raced out to meet her.
 
For the second time in the same day he used his vampire-speed.
 
He placed himself strategically between Trina and the driver side door.

She nearly jumped out of her skin.

“I hate it when you do that!” she cried in fright.

“Sorry.
 
I have to talk to you about Cowboy.”

She rolled her eyes.
 
“He is so in the past.”

“Good.
 
But I still need to know what the two of you talked about when you were together.
 
Specifically, I was wondering if Cowboy ever mentioned anything to you about Jersey Clifford.”

She squinted at him.
 
“No.
 
Why would he?”

“Are you sure?”

“I would remember if the guy I was dating started talking about the head werewolf my best friend is supposed to kill.
 
Besides, I thought vampires hated werewolves.”

“They do.
 
That’s why I need to know if Cowboy ever mentioned him.
 
Cowboy says he wants to help me kill
Jersey
, but I don’t trust the guy.
 
He’s always been hard to read.
 
It would be great to have more help though.
 
Maybe if we had our own army we could destroy
Jersey
and actually win this thing.”

Trina reached for her car door.

Jack moved out of the way.

“Oh, by the way,” she said as she turned to face him.
 
“I know where your brother is hanging out.”

Billy?
 
Jack grabbed her by the shoulders with rough hands.
 
Her startled protest made him immediately loosen his grip.
 
He hadn’t meant to hurt her in his excitement.
 
The idea of getting to his brother before anyone else and saving his life pushed him to the mental edge.
 
“Where is he?”

“He’s at the old Miller place.”

Jack released her.
 
Gazing at the horizon in the direction of the Miller farm, he developed a plan.
 
Soon he would be face to face with Billy.
 
They would have a long talk.
 
Maybe he could convince Billy to return home.

Trina threw in a bit of caution.
 
“He’s not alone.
 
Cowboy told me he’s hanging with a bunch of werewolves.
 
They might be some of
Jersey
’s gang, but Cowboy never mentioned his name.”

“Cowboy told you where Billy was?
 
Why?”

If Cowboy was using Billy to gain some favorable ground with Jack, why wouldn’t he tell Jack to his face?

Trina shrugged.
 
“I don’t know.
 
We were having a nice time one night just hanging out.
 
It was after we ran into you at the movie theater.
 
We were talking about you and how you needed to get a life.
 
Then he mentions Billy is at the old Miller place.”

“Why didn’t you call me?”

“Derek told me not to.
 
I mean, Cowboy told me not to.”

“Why?”

She rolled her eyes again.
 
“I don’t know and I don’t care.
 
He’s out of my life.
 
The jerk wanted me to give you the information, but he never told me when to do it.
 
I thought you should know.”

With a flash of a smile she climbed into her car and took off down the drive.
 
A cloud of dust choked him.
 
He waved his hand in front of his face and took a few steps backwards.
 
His mind circled around the mental image of his brother.
 
What should he do about Billy?
 
He missed his brother like crazy.
 
There had to be a way he could get Billy under control, keep Ian from killing him, and make everyone happy.

Jack hadn’t totally recovered from his illness yet.
 
Feeling weak, even dizzy at times, he wasn’t sure he should visit Billy.
 
Billy wasn’t alone.
 
The other werewolves could tear Jack apart without too much trouble.
 
But if he waited too long, he risked losing his brother forever.
 
They could move somewhere else.

One thing for sure, he wasn’t going to take a weapon with him.
 
He was not going to hurt his brother.
 
Not now.
 
Not ever.
 
He’d rather die.

Chapter Seventeen:

A NARROW ESCAPE

.

.

Jack waited for everyone to go to bed before sneaking out of the house.
 
Mind made up, he had to see Billy alone.
 
Unfortunately, he wasn’t the only one who couldn’t sleep.
 
When he opened the front door, he found Silver on the front porch.
 
Perched on the top step, she turned at the waist.
 
A big smile curved her lips.

“I was just thinking about you,” she said.

“Were you?”

“I was wondering if you were awake.”

“I just wanted to get some air.
 
I guess it’s true what they say.
 
Great minds think alike.”

“Seems like a long time since we’ve talked.”

He sat beside her with a tired sigh, Billy heavy on his mind.
 
“Anything special you want to talk about?”

“What do you think?”
 
She lifted her hand and wiggled her fingers to show off the ring.
 
“We should pick a date if you want to get married before school starts.
 
Time is running out.
 
It will be here before we know it.”

That was true.

He wiped his hands on his jeans, sweaty palms again.
 
Lovely’s warning returned to him like a brick through a window.
 
The diary claimed one of them would die if they tried to marry too soon.
 
On the other hand, the reincarnation mess wouldn’t stop until they got married... and killed Jersey Clifford.
 
Would it matter which they did first?
 
Should he push for the wedding to happen now or later?

Before he uttered a single word, Silver said, “I don’t think there’s enough time for us to set up a wedding before I go.
 
Not a nice one anyway.
 
Honestly, Jack, I’ve been thinking my mom needs time to get over my dad’s death.
 
It just happened.
 
She’ll want to help with wedding preparations.
 
It’s going to be very stressful for everyone, but especially for her.”

She looked directly at him and added, “I’m worried about her.”

“You’re right.
 
Your mother needs time to heal before watching us get married.
 
She’ll want to help you pick out a wedding gown.”

“You don’t know the half of it.”

He blinked at her.

She added, “Mom will insist we invite everyone we’ve ever met.
 
You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into.”

He was beginning to get the idea.

“It’s settled then,” Silver said.
 
“We’ll get married next summer.”

“Sounds good.”
 
Next summer was far enough away not to make him shake in his shoes, but close enough to make Silver happy.
 
He put an arm around her shoulders, pulling her tight to his side.
 
They tilted their heads at the same time and gazed up at the stars.
 
He turned, pressed his mouth to her hair, and breathed in the sweet scent.
 
She always smelled incredible.

Silver turned her face.
 
Their mouths were separated by a mere inch.
 
Her eyelids lowered.
 
He cupped the sides of her face and kissed her gently.
 
His hands slid down to her waist.
 
Her fingers delved into his hair, messing it up, tugging on handfuls of the stuff while kissing him with such unbelievable passion it made him wish they were the only people at the house.
 
He wanted to be able to make out with her at length without any chance of being interrupted.

Tearing her mouth from his, she gasped for air.
 
An awkward silence settled between them.
 
He wanted to keep kissing her, but she had other ideas.

 
After a brief kiss on his chin, she jumped up and headed for the door, leaving his arms empty.
 
“Oh yeah, almost forgot.”
 
She reached down for a box leaning against the house near the door.
 
“Somebody left this for you.”

She tossed it, and he caught it with both hands.
 
She went inside before he had the chance to ask if she had seen the delivery guy.
 
Jack was surprised by her lack of curiosity.
 
If the box had been for her, he would have hovered in the background as she opened it.

He lifted the box lid and found a book inside.
 
No doubt it was from
Jersey
, the first of his ordered book reports.
 
Jack stared at the cover in total disbelief, thinking it had to be a joke.
 
He’d been expecting another classic.
 
But
Jersey
had sent him a copy of the latest trashy novel from some actress turned writer.

Had Blanca picked it out?

He didn’t want to read this garbage.

Maybe this was
Jersey
’s new way of torturing him before the kill.
 
He threw it aside.
 
Making him read that piece of crap was probably
Jersey
’s way of keeping him too busy to practice sucking souls.
 
It wasn’t going to work.
 
Jack decided to double his hunting time.
 
He would go out more often, attack as many werewolves as he could find, starting with the ones hanging with Billy.
 
Somehow he was going to make himself ready for
Jersey
.

Jack stood, walked across the yard before turning to look at the windows.
 
He wanted to make sure no one was watching.
 
First he had to deal with Billy.
 
Then he would worry about
Jersey
.
 
The windows were dark, empty.
 
Everyone was in bed.
 
He slipped away unnoticed.

.

*****

.

The old Miller place, his former home away from home, waited in familiar shambles.
 
If anything, it looked worse.
 
He watched the house until he was certain most of the werewolves were gone.
 
The barn made a great cover while making plans on what to do next.
 
There was only one werewolf he wanted to talk to tonight.

Billy paced back and forth on the wooden porch, his agitation obvious, and Jack knew why.
 
His brother could smell him.

Several minutes passed.
 
He tried to formulate a plan for escape—after he finished with Billy of course—but he couldn’t come up with anything cohesive.
 
No doubt Billy would try to kill him.
 
Not to mention the other werewolves who could return at any second.
 
He also needed time to think about what he was going to say.
 
There had to be a way to reach his brother, something he could say to melt the ice around Billy’s heart.

Billy didn’t wait for Jack to prepare a speech.
 
He came off the porch in a mad dash and shouted, “I know you’re here!
 
Come out and face me, you coward.”

Now what?
 
Jack swallowed, hesitant to reveal himself.
 
He really should have stayed at home in bed until he had the details worked out.
 
But no, he had to plunge in without thinking.
 
When would he remember he wasn’t a vampire anymore?
 
He could be killed like any other average guy.

Billy turned in a circle, scanning the area with narrowed eyes.
 
“Where are you?
 
Show yourself… or do you want me to hunt for you?”

“I’m here.”
 
Jack left the security of the barn behind.
 
He stepped into the open, pulling up his shirt to show he wasn’t carrying a weapon.
 
Then he lifted his hands high in the air.
 
“Can we talk?”

“What’s wrong, Jackie?
 
Got a problem you need your kid brother to solve?”

“Not exactly.”

“Why are you here?”

Jack approached his brother with caution, hands still raised.
 
“I solved the great mystery of why you want to kill me when there’s no full moon.”

“Really?
 
Tell me.”

“Simple.
 
I was a vampire, and the scent clings to me even though I’m mortal now.
 
You’re a werewolf.
 
The hatred you feel for me is normal.
 
It’s instinct.
 
We’re natural born enemies now.”

Billy nodded slowly.
 
A smile began to form.
 
The moonlight caught his eyes just right and they glowed eerily, making Jack take a step backwards.
 
Should he start running now?
 
Or was Billy going to be able to hold it together until they finished talking?

Jack added, “That doesn’t mean you have to follow through.
 
We’re brothers.
 
We should focus on our shared enemy.”

“Enemy?”

“
Jersey
Clifford.”

Billy threw his head back and laughed as if Jack had told him the funniest joke he’d ever heard.
 
His eyes glistened, damp.
 
He wiped at them with the sleeve of his shirt as he continued to chuckle.
 

Jack glared at him.
 
“What’s so funny?”

“You are.
 
It’s been like a year since your crazy transformation, and you’re still out to get the English teacher.
 
He’s all you ever think about.
 
You have more than one enemy, idiot.
 
I think you should worry about the werewolves circling you right now.”

The second Billy mentioned them, Jack caught the scent.
 
How had he missed it?
 
Billy’s new buddies had surrounded them while they were talking.
 
Jack revolved, taking in the sight of the werewolves.
 
There were too many to count.
 
He was a dead man.

“Any last words?” Billy asked.

In his days as a vampire Jack had learned about the werewolf pack mentality.
 
If Billy instructed them to let Jack go, they probably would.
 
Billy just needed to use the brother card.
 
Werewolves usually respected prior relatives of pack members.
 

“It doesn’t have to be like this,” Jack said.

“You shouldn’t have come back home.”
 
Billy sneered.
 
“You don’t belong here.
 
You might be fangless at the moment, but you aren’t human.
 
You’re still a vampire, and the boys can smell it.
 
They are going to tear you apart.”

“And you’re just going to watch?”

“Watch?
 
I don’t think so.”
 
Billy called to the others, “He’s my brother.
 
I get to draw first blood.”

There were a few protesting grunts, but most of the guys agreed with Billy.
 
Jack looked at them again.
 
He recognized a few.
 
Helio
was among them, the silver knife already in his hand.
 
Then there were a couple from the former werewolf hideout, the one Billy had staked out.
 
Apparently they’d caught him watching them.
 
One of them had infected him.
 
Jack wished he knew which one.
 
He’d like to kill that dirty, hairy beast before he died.

The werewolves formed a tight circle around him.
 
There was no way out.
 
He wanted to kick himself for not bringing a weapon or someone to back him up.
 
If Ian was standing in the wings, he would at least burn a few to death.
 
Maybe Jack could have escaped.

But Ian wouldn’t have stopped with just the surrounding werewolves.
 
He would have killed Billy.

“We don’t have to do this,” Jack said.

“Sure we do.”

Jack rushed into a speech about their shared past without giving himself time to think about what he should say.
 
If he hesitated, he’d die.
 
So he said the first thing that came to mind.
 
“Remember when we were kids and you used to follow me everywhere?
 
There was that one time I went to the Johnson farm even though he hated trespassers and had warned me he’d shoot me on sight if he ever caught me on his land.
 
It was a blistering hot day, and I wanted to swim in his pond.
 
You remember that?”

Billy’s expression told Jack he remembered.
 
He knew what Jack was trying to do.
 
It was in his eyes.
 
He knew, and he was determined not to let it work.
 
Jack plunged ahead, desperate to connect with his brother before it was too late for them both.

“He had a rope tied to a tree so you could swing over the pond and drop right into it.
 
Remember?
 
I misjudged the distance and let go at the wrong time.
 
I hit my head on a rock.
 
There was so much blood I thought I was going to die.
 
Do you remember what you did?”

Billy replied with obvious reluctance.
 
“Johnson was coming out of his house, about to catch you, so I ran in the other direction, whooping and hollering so he would follow me instead.”